Hanger assembly



April 12, 1966 R. R. DUPLER HANGER ASSEMBLY Filed March 10, 1965 INVENTOR.

RAYMOND R. DUPLER I I A QM ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,245,645 HANGER ASSEMBLY Raymond R. Dupler, 744 Euclid, Toledo, Ghio Filed Mar. 10, 1965, er. No. 438,636 '3' Claims. (Cl. 248-215) This invention relates to hangers but more particularly to a hanger device which when not in use can be conveniently shifted to a concealed position thereby to conserve space but afiord maximum hanging facility when required.

An object is to produce a hanger of the above character which can be produced and installed economically and conveniently and can be readily manipulated to and from useful position without special tools or devices.

Another object is to produce a simple hanger device constituting a single rod bent to the desired conformation and mounted in a special panel by which it can be elevated and turned to position of use and when not in use can be manually turned to a predetermined position when the hanger drops to a concealed position.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the description proceeds and, by way of illustration but not of limitation, an embodiment of the invention is shown on the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a top perspective view of a supporting panel showing a hanger rod disposed in position of use;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 but showing the hanger rod disposed in concealed position when not in use;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional elevation of the hanger rod and associated panel mounted on a vertical support with a hanger rod arranged in position of use;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the hanger rod with a stop washer mounted thereon;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the stop washer; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary elevation of a mounting panel showing certain hanger rods disposed in position of use, with one in inoperative or concealed position, and also showing a couple of the holes for the reception of the hanger rods.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises a hanger device which may be used for clothes or other articles and which can individually be shifted from a concealed position out of use to a useful position. As shown, the device comprises a horizontally disposed supporting panel 10 of appreciable thickness and which may be of wood or other suitable material. As shown in FIGURE 3, the panel 10 is suitably fixed to the side of an upright support S, such as the side wall of a closet. The panel 10 is formed with a notched portion providing a ledge 1J1 which is recessed or disposed in the rear portion of the upper area of the panel 10. The ledge is horizontally disposed and is spaced below the upper edge of the front of the supporting panel 10 substantially as shown. This affords a horizontally disposed support rail 12 for a purpose which will be hereinafter described.

As best shown on FIGURE 6, the supporting panel 10 is formed with a series of laterally spaced vertical holes 13 which open at the upper ends to the ledge 11 and terminate at the bottom ends with an enlarged counterbore 14, which conveniently may :be of the order of onethird larger diameter than the diameter of the vertical holes 13.

The hanger device consists in this instance of a rod of steel or other suitable material which has a vertically disposed shank 16 'freely extending through the hole 13. Applied to the lower end portion of the vertical shank 16 is a washer 17, which as shown on FIGURE 5 is provided "ice with a plurality of inwardly extending teeth 18 to impinge against the outside of the shank 16 for securing the same fricti-onally in the desired position. The washer 17 affords a stop to abut against the stop surface 19 forming the upper end of the counter bore 14thereby to limit the upward movement of the hanger as will hereinafter appear. The distance between the washer 17 and the stop surface 19 is predetermined to enable a horizontal rod portion 20 integral with the upper end of the shank [l6 sufficient movement to clear the supporting rail 12. This enables the horizontal rod portion 20 to be rocked to a right angle position where it rests against the rail 12, as indicated on FIGURES 1 and 3. The horizontal rod portion 20 extends at approximately right angles to the vertical shank portion 16 and the tree end of the horizontal portion 20 has an upwardly inclined terminal portion 21, so that articles of clothing, etc. suspended from the horizontal portion 20 will not slide therefrom.

When the hanger device is not in use, it is moved to the position shown in FIGURE 2, in which the horizontal rod portion 20 rests upon the ledge 11 and is concealed in back of the upstanding rail portion 12. In order to shift the hanger rod to position of use, it is merely necessary to grasp the horizontal portion 20 and lift it upwardly to a point so that it clears the ledge 12 and then swing the rod to substantially right angles so that it rests upon the ledge 12 with the horizontal portion projecting outwardly as indicated on FIGURE 3. In this position articles of clothing, etc. may be suspended from the horizontal portion 26. When it is desired that the hanger device be shifted to a position out of use, the horizontal portion 20 may be rocked to the position so that the horizontal portion drops against the ledge 11 to a concealed position.

From the above description it will be rnanifest that I have produced an exceedingly simple and efiicient hanger device which can be readily manipulated to a position of use by merely lifting up on the hanger device and swinging it to a position in which the horizontal portion 20 extends outwardly. When not in use it can be rocked to a position so that it will drop by its own weight against the ledge 11 and thereby be fully concealed. In this manner a great saving in space is effected and only those hangers which are desired for use will be disposed in operative position. The assembly can be readily and conveniently installed in position of use and in view of its great simplicity, the cost of production as well as installation is reduced to a minimum.

Numerous changes in details of construction, arrangement and choice of materialsmay be effected without departing from the spirit of the invention, especially as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A hanger device of the character described comprising a mounting panel having a recessed ledge at the upper end and a horizontal support rail disposed above and forwardly thereof, said panel having a vertical hole opening at its upper end in said ledge, said vertical hole having an enlarged counter-bore opening at the lower end of said panel, a hanger rod having a vertical shank loosely fitting said vertical hole and a portion extending into said counter-bore, a stop element on the lower end portion of said shank and adapted to abut against the shoulder at the juncture of said counter-bore and said vertical hole to afford predetermined vertical movement of said rod, an integral horizontal extension on the upper end of said rod, said rod being movable vertically upward sufiiciently as determined by the position of said stop element to enable said horizontal extension to clear said References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Holmes 248-290 X Logan 248-224 Larson 206-65 Eames 248-290 St. Clair 223-95 Modrey 189-36 10 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Exlzminer. 

1. A HANGER DEVICE OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED COMPRISING A MOUNTING PANEL HAVING A RECESSED LEDGE AT THE UPPER END AND A HORIZONTAL SUPPORT RAIL DISPOSED ABOVE AND FORWARDLY THEREOF, SAID PANEL HAVING A VERTICAL HOLE OPENING AT ITS UPPER END IN SAID LEDGE, SAID VERTICAL HOLE HAVING AN ENLARGED COUNTER-BORE OPENING AT THE LOWER END OF SAID PANEL, A HANGER ROD HAVING A VERTICAL SHANK LOOSELY FITTING SAID VERTICAL HOLE AND A PORTION EXTENDING INTO SAID COUNTER-BORE, A STOP ELEMENT ON THE LOWER END PORTION OF SHANK AND ADAPTED TO ABUT AGAINST THE SHOULDER AT THE JUNCTURE OF SAID COUNTER-BORE AND SAID VERTICAL HOLE TO AFFORD PREDETERMINED VERTICAL MOVEMENT OF SAID ROD, AN INTEGRAL HORIZONTAL EXTENSION ON THE UPPER END OF SAID ROD, SAID ROD BEING MOVABLE VERTICALLY UPWARD SUFFICIENTLY AS DETERMINED BY THE POSITION OF SAID STOP ELEMENT TO ENABLE SAID HORIZONTAL EXTENSION TO CLEAR SAID SUPPORT RAIL AND THEN SWING TO APPROXIMATELY RIGHT ANGLES AND REST UPON SAID RAIL IN POSITION OF USE, SAID EXTENSION BEING ALSO ROCKABLE TO A POSITION TO DROP BY GRAVITY TO A CONCEALED POSITION AGAINST SAID LEDGE. 